Doubting the 10km

When I'm tired I think, "I can't run a 10K! What was I thinking?" Other times when I have had some rest I believe the Around the Bay Race is doable for me. Here's why I flip-flop:

Negative actions/thoughts I have about the 10K:

I have constant "what if" thoughts. What if I get sick before the race? What if I simply can't do it in the amount of time given? What if I can't breath?

Lack of training/motivation.

I shouldn't be running with the shoes I have. They have very little support left. This might also be why I'm not training like I should.

Positive actions/thoughts I have about the 10K:

I went to the Running Room to buy new shoes. I didn't buy any because I am waiting for a sale, but the simple fact that I did the action must mean I think I can run the 10k run, right? Plus, if I get new shoes that wipes out at least one of the negative actions/thoughts.

I spoke with the woman at the Running Room who said getting in shape to run a 10k is totally doable between now and March. Yay!

I've committed to running a 5k in October: The Run for a Cure. I have other reasons for running this race but it's still a positive action for me. (www.runforthecure.com/goto/madeline)

I've joined another sport which will help me get into better shape*. (I would talk about the sport but that's an entirely different blog post.)

I have been going out for walks and did do a bit of a run last week.

I figured out how long it would take me to WALK 10k.

Out of all the positive points, I think the last one is the most motivating. The race in March is a 30k relay with my brother and sister; Both who are in better, much better, shape* than I am. As a team, we have 4.5 hours to finish the 30k. This means we each have one hour and 30 minutes to run 10K.

On average, I can walk one kilometer in nine minutes. Let's round it up to 10 minutes for good measure. This means, if I were to only walk my section of the race, it would take me 100 minutes (10mins/k X 10 k). That is one hour and 40 minutes. That's only ten minutes over my share of the time! Of course, I want to do much better than that but that relieves some of the stress and self doubt.